Dec 7, 2017 - Technology

Snap, Google, Facebook again dominate list of top iPhone apps

Apple released its list of top iPhone apps for the year and, once again, the list was dominated by titles created by Facebook, Google and Snap. Their apps combined for all of the top seven spots among free iPhone apps followed by Netflix, Spotify and Uber.

Data: Apple; Chart: Axios Visuals
Data: Apple; Chart: Axios Visuals

Why it matters: These companies dominate the share of ad spending so it's vital to their future to have top-ranked mobile apps as well. On the other hand, it's getting harder and harder for others to find their way to the top of the charts.

Apple also released its top 20 for other categories, including paid apps, free and paid games as well as leaders in podcasts, music, movies, TV shows and books:

Top Free iPhone Apps:

  1. Bitmoji
  2. Snapchat
  3. YouTube: Watch Listen Stream
  4. Messenger
  5. Instagram
  6. Facebook
  7. Google Maps - GPS Navigation
  8. Netflix
  9. Spotify Music
  10. Uber
  11. Gmail - Email by Google
  12. Pandora Music
  13. Amazon – Shopping made easy
  14. WhatsApp Messenger
  15. Wish - Shopping Made Fun
  16. Twitter
  17. SoundCloud - Music & Audio
  18. Google Chrome
  19. Waze Navigation & Live Traffic
  20. Lyft

Top Paid iPhone Apps:

(Our thought bubble: This shows the power of subscriptions, validating the bet made by Lightricks, the maker of photo editing apps Facetune, and Enlight)

  1. Facetune
  2. Tabs & Chords - learn and play
  3. HotSchedules
  4. Enlight
  5. 7 Minute Workout Challenge
  6. Videoshop - Video Editor
  7. Dark Sky Weather
  8. Sky Guide AR
  9. Full Fitness : Exercise Workout Trainer
  10. Word Swag - Cool fonts & typography generator
  11. iScanner - PDF Document Scanner App
  12. Scanner Pro by Readdle
  13. Afterlight
  14. The Wonder Weeks
  15. NOAA Radar Pro – Weather Alerts & Forecast
  16. Toca Hair Salon 3
  17. LightX
  18. Scanner for Me + OCR
  19. 1 Second Everyday: Video Diary
  20. Fontmania - Add Artworks & Text to Your Photos!

Top Free iPhone Games:

(Our thought bubble: This list tells you a lot about what people download, but not so much about which games brought in the money. Even though Super Mario Run tops the list, it was a one-time purchase to own the game. That limited its revenue potential as compared to games that rely on repeated in-app purchases.)

  1. Super Mario Run
  2. 8 Ball Pool™
  3. Snake VS Block
  4. Ballz
  5. Word Cookies!
  6. Subway Surfers
  7. Episode!
  8. Rolling Sky
  9. Block! Hexa Puzzle
  10. Paper.io
  11. Solitaire·
  12. Bowmasters - Multiplayer Game
  13. Color Switch
  14. Piano Tiles 2™(Don't Tap The White Tile 2)
  15. Choices: Stories You Play
  16. Roll the Ball® - slide puzzle
  17. Clash Royale
  18. ROBLOX
  19. Word Connect ¤
  20. Candy Crush Saga

Top Paid iPhone Games:

  1. Heads Up!
  2. Minecraft
  3. Bloons TD 5
  4. Plague Inc.
  5. MONOPOLY Game
  6. Geometry Dash
  7. Monument Valley 2
  8. The Game of Life
  9. The Escapists
  10. Assassin's Creed Identity
  11. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
  12. True Skate
  13. RollerCoaster Tycoon® Classic
  14. Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location
  15. Papa's Freezeria To Go!
  16. Five Nights at Freddy's
  17. Hitman Sniper
  18. Terraria
  19. Reigns
  20. Tiny Wings

Top Free iPad Apps:

(Our thought bubble: Video apps dominated the list, not surprisingly.)

  1. YouTube: Watch Listen Stream
  2. Netflix
  3. Facebook
  4. Messenger
  5. Google Chrome
  6. Amazon Prime Video
  7. Gmail - Email by Google
  8. YouTube Kids
  9. Amazon – Shopping made easy
  10. Spotify Music
  11. Pandora Music
  12. The Calculator
  13. The Weather Channel App for iPad – best local forecast radar map and storm tracking
  14. Google Docs
  15. Google
  16. Hulu: Watch TV Shows & Movies
  17. Amazon Kindle
  18. Google Maps - GPS Navigation
  19. Google Drive
  20. Microsoft Word

Top Paid iPad Apps:

(Our thought bubble: Here it was kids games that dominated, telling you something about iPad demographics, with children's app developer Toca Boca making up nearly half the list.)

  1. Procreate
  2. Notability
  3. Toca Life: Hospital
  4. Toca Hair Salon 3
  5. GoodNotes 4
  6. Toca Life: Stable
  7. Duet Display
  8. Toca Lab: Elements
  9. Toca Kitchen 2
  10. XtraMath
  11. Toca Life: Farm
  12. Toca Life: Office
  13. PDF Expert by Readdle
  14. Amaziograph
  15. Notepad+ Pro
  16. Toca Life: Vacation
  17. Pixelmator
  18. GoodReader - PDF Reader Annotator and File Manager
  19. Affinity Photo
  20. Toca Life: City

Top Free iPad Games:

  1. Super Mario Run
  2. ROBLOX
  3. Rolling Sky
  4. Word Cookies!
  5. Bowmasters - Multiplayer Game
  6. Subway Surfers
  7. Paper.io
  8. slither.io
  9. Piano Tiles 2™(Don't Tap The White Tile 2)
  10. 8 Ball Pool™
  11. Block! Hexa Puzzle
  12. Clash Royale
  13. Roll the Ball® - slide puzzle
  14. Color Switch
  15. Minecraft: Story Mode
  16. Cooking Fever
  17. Hill Climb Racing 2
  18. Minion Rush
  19. Episode!
  20. Snake VS Block

Top Paid iPad Games:

  1. Minecraft
  2. Geometry Dash
  3. Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location
  4. Bloons TD 5 HD
  5. The Escapists
  6. Terraria
  7. Five Nights at Freddy's
  8. Goat Simulator
  9. Monument Valley 2
  10. Heads Up!
  11. The Game of Life
  12. Scribblenauts Unlimited
  13. Five Nights at Freddy's 2
  14. Goat Simulator PAYDAY
  15. Octodad: Dadliest Catch
  16. Goat Simulator Waste of Space
  17. Plague Inc.
  18. LEGO® Jurassic World™
  19. Assassin's Creed Identity
  20. SpongeBob Moves In

U.S. Music - Top Albums

  1. Drake More Life
  2. Kendrick Lamar DAMN.
  3. Taylor Swift reputation
  4. Ed Sheeran ÷
  5. The Weeknd Starboy
  6. J. Cole 4 Your Eyez Only
  7. Bruno Mars 24K Magic
  8. Migos Culture
  9. Future FUTURE
  10. Various Artists Moana
  11. Post Malone Stoney
  12. Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton Hamilton
  13. Various Artists Trolls (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
  14. Drake Views
  15. Big Sean I Decided.
  16. Travis Scott Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight
  17. JAY Z 4:44 am
  18. Future HNDRXX
  19. Khalid American Teen
  20. Chris Stapleton From A Room: Volume 1

U.S. Music Top Songs

  1. Ed Sheeran Shape of You
  2. Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee Despacito (feat. Justin Bieber)
  3. Bruno Mars That's What I Like
  4. Kendrick Lamar HUMBLE.
  5. Sam Hunt Body Like a Back Road
  6. Migos Bad and Boujee (feat. Lil Uzi Vert)
  7. Bruno Mars 24K Magic
  8. DJ Khaled I'm the One (feat. Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance the Rapper & Lil Wayne)
  9. Post Malone Congratulations (feat. Quavo)
  10. Rae Sremmurd Black Beatles (feat. Gucci Mane)
  11. ZAYN & Taylor Swift I Don't Wanna Live Forever (Fifty Shades Darker)
  12. The Weeknd Starboy (feat. Daft Punk)
  13. Drake Fake Love
  14. James Arthur Say You Won't Let Go
  15. Imagine Dragons Believer
  16. Future Mask Off
  17. The Chainsmokers & Coldplay Something Just Like This
  18. Lil Uzi Vert XO TOUR Llif3
  19. KYLE iSpy (feat. Lil Yachty)
  20. The Chainsmokers Closer (feat. Halsey)

U.S. Movies

  1. Moana (2016)
  2. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
  3. Wonder Woman (2017)
  4. Sing
  5. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
  6. Trolls
  7. Doctor Strange (2016) B
  8. eauty and the Beast (2017)
  9. Arrival
  10. Spider-Man: Homecoming
  11. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
  12. Logan
  13. The Boss Baby
  14. The LEGO Batman Movie
  15. Hacksaw Ridge
  16. The Accountant (2016)
  17. John Wick: Chapter 2
  18. Hidden Figures
  19. Baby Driver
  20. Passengers (2016)

U.S. TV

  1. Game of Thrones
  2. The Walking Dead
  3. The Big Bang Theory
  4. Rick and Morty
  5. The Americans
  6. Suits
  7. PAW Patrol
  8. This Is Us
  9. Modern Family
  10. Grey's Anatomy
  11. Better Call Saul
  12. Sherlock
  13. Scandal
  14. RuPaul's Drag Race
  15. Big Little Lies
  16. Doctor Who
  17. Planet Earth II
  18. Homeland
  19. The Flash
  20. The Blacklist

U.S. Podcast - Most Downloaded

  1. Fresh Air
  2. The Joe Rogan Experience
  3. Stuff You Should Know
  4. The Dave Ramsey Show
  5. The Daily
  6. This American Life
  7. TED Radio Hour
  8. Planet Money
  9. Pod Save America
  10. TED Talks Daily
  11. Freakonomics Radio
  12. Up First
  13. My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
  14. Radiolab
  15. NPR Politics Podcast
  16. The Bill Simmons Podcast
  17. S-Town
  18. Up and Vanished
  19. Global News Podcast
  20. Stuff You Missed in History Class

U.S. iBooks Fiction

  1. Camino Island / John Grisham
  2. The Handmaid's Tale / Margaret Atwood
  3. Origin / Dan Brown
  4. Into the Water /Paula Hawkins
  5. The Fix / David Baldacci
  6. Big Little Lies / Liane Moriarty
  7. The Girl Before / J.P. Delaney
  8. A Gentleman in Moscow / Amor Towles
  9. The Shack / William P. Young
  10. Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
  11. A Game of Thrones / George R.R. Martin
  12. It / Stephen King
  13. Thirteen Reasons Why / Jay Asher
  14. The Late Show / Michael Connelly
  15. Milk and Honey / Rupi Kaur
  16. The Rooster Bar / John Grisham
  17. The Midnight Line / Lee Child
  18. The Whistler / John Grisham
  19. House of Spies / Daniel Silva
  20. Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

U.S. iBooks Non-Fiction

  1. Hillbilly Elegy / J.D. Vance
  2. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck / Mark Manson
  3. Astrophysics for People in a Hurry / Neil de Grasse Tyson
  4. The 5 Love Languages / Gary D. Chapman
  5. When Breath Becomes Air / Paul Kalanithi & Abraham Verghese
  6. The Glass Castle / Jeannette Walls
  7. What Happened / Hillary Clinton
  8. Option B / Sheryl Sandberg & Adam Grant
  9. Killing the Rising Sun / Martin Dugard, Bill O'Reilly
  10. You Are a Badass / Jen Sincero
  11. Shattered / Jonathan Allen, Amie Parnes
  12. Al Franken, Giant of the Senate / Al Franken
  13. The Operator / Robert O'Neill
  14. Rich Dad Poor Dad / Robert T. Kiyosaki
  15. Killers of the Flower Moon / David Grann
  16. Born a Crime / Trevor Noah
  17. Alexander Hamilton / Ron Chernow
  18. The Magnolia Story / Chip Gaines & Joanna Gaines
  19. Hidden Figures / Margot Lee Shetterly
  20. Killing England / Martin Dugard, Bill O'Reilly

U.S. Audiobooks

  1. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck / Mark Manson
  2. The Four Agreements (Unabridged) / Don Miguel Ruiz
  3. The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger (Unabridged) / Stephen King
  4. The Witness / Nora Roberts
  5. How to Win Friends & Influence People (Unabridged) / Dale Carnegie
  6. Hillbilly Elegy (Unabridged) / J. D. Vance
  7. The Shack (Unabridged) / Wm. Paul Young
  8. Extreme Ownership (Unabridged) / Jocko Willink, Leif Babin
  9. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Book 1 (Unabridged) / J.K. Rowling
  10. Rich Dad Poor Dad / Robert T. Kiyosaki
  11. The Handmaid's Tale (Unabridged) / Margaret Atwood
  12. The Art of War (Unabridged) / Sun Tzu
  13. You Are a Badass (Unabridged) / Jen Sincero
  14. The Alchemist (Unabridged) / Paulo Coelho
  15. The Secret (Unabridged) / Rhonda Byrne
  16. Astrophysics for People in a Hurry (Unabridged) / Neil de Grasse Tyson
  17. The Five Love Languages (Unabridged) / Gary Chapman
  18. The Total Money Makeover / Dave Ramsey
  19. The Power of Now (Unabridged) / Eckhart Tolle
  20. It (Unabridged) / Stephen King
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